How is it
that Whitey received widespread national coverage during his trial, even
reports in some international media? What makes him such a figure that well
over two dozen books have been written about him in which he plays a prominent
part in one way or another? I’ve posited that Whitey was a
run-of-the-mill viscous gangster. Yet forces united to elevate him to
stratospheric levels.

One prominent media maven wrote that he “Corrupted Boston for a Quarter
Century.” From what I can tell there’s never been any public official in the
state or city convicted of corruption because of an involvement with Whitey. It
seems that the corruption we’ve seen among Massachusetts public office holders
or officials has not implicated anyone involved with organized crime.

However four different surveys ranks Massachusetts as follows: Center for
Public Integrity gives it a C placing it in the top ten least corrupt states;
the New York Times ranks it 18th in the number of officials
convicted; the federals show it ranks 27th in
per capital convictions; and Business Insider ranks it as the 21st most
corrupt.

If Whitey didn’t corrupt any public officials and if he didn’t terrorize the
city, then what is it that makes him such a matter of fascination? It
boils down to the smallness of Boston where something rather ordinary can be
made into something extraordinary. But why pick out Whitey? He wasn’t the worst
of the lot: John “Murderman” Martorano and Stevie “Benjiman”Flemmi, not to
mention Larry Baione (Zannino), Gerry Angiulo and Frankie
Salemme all surpassed him in cruelty and crime. I’ve suggested Whitey was made
into much more than he ever was because it sated the Boston media’s appetite to
foil his brother; and there was a need of other parties to jump on the ship to
inflate his reputation for their own less than straight forward purposes.

I’m sure most of you are scratching your head and wondering who is Jimmy the
Gent? You’re probably saying “there’s no way he’s in the same
league as Whitey.” And I’d have to agree. He makes Whitey look
like a small timer.

Burke was an outright mean murderer. You might have heard how Whitey didn’t
like a story Paul Corsetti of the Herald was planning to write. He made
a plan to confront him at the Dockside in Quincy Market (according to
Ralph Ranalli in 2001) or at P.J. Clark’s (according to Howie
Carr in 2006) or “a bar in Quincy Market” (according to Howie Carr in
2011). Whitey was upset because the story was about his brother Billy, or about
the Litif murder, or whatever.(Hard to pin down the reason.)
We’re told that Whitey interacted with Corsetti, a combat vet from
Vietnam, and whispered one of those “do you know who I am” talks
allegedly telling him “I’m Jimmy Bulger and I kill people.”

Many of the murders attributed to Whitey were done by others. He was allegedly
in a crash car for a half-dozen who were murdered
by Murderman nor did he have much to do with the Wheeler or Callahan
murders. Jimmy the Gent was all hands on. He is suspected in over 50 murders.
Most of the people who pulled the Kennedy heist with him he murdered so they
either wouldn’t talk or complain about their cut of the loot. Yet no one has
suggested that he terrorized New York City. He was but a minor blip in the
annals of crime.

How
is it that Whitey received widespread national coverage during his
trial, even reports in some international media? What makes him such a
figure that well over two dozen books have been written about him in
which he plays a prominent part in one way or another? I’ve posited
that Whitey was a run-of-the-mill viscous gangster. Yet forces united to
elevate him to stratospheric levels.

One prominent media maven wrote that he “Corrupted Boston for a
Quarter Century.” From what I can tell there’s never been any public
official in the state or city convicted of corruption because of an
involvement with Whitey. It seems that the corruption we’ve seen among
Massachusetts public office holders or officials has not implicated
anyone involved with organized crime.

However four different surveys ranks Massachusetts as follows:
Center for Public Integrity gives it a C placing it in the top ten least
corrupt states; the New York Times ranks it 18th in the number of officials convicted; the federals show it ranks 27th in per capital convictions; and Business Insider ranks it as the 21st most corrupt.

If Whitey didn’t corrupt any public officials and if he didn’t
terrorize the city, then what is it that makes him such a matter of
fascination? It boils down to the smallness of Boston where something
rather ordinary can be made into something extraordinary. But why pick
out Whitey? He wasn’t the worst of the lot: John “Murderman” Martorano
and Stevie “Benjiman”Flemmi, not to mention Larry Baione (Zannino),
Gerry Angiulo and Frankie Salemme all surpassed him in cruelty and
crime. I’ve suggested Whitey was made into much more than he ever was
because it sated the Boston media’s appetite to foil his brother; and
there was a need of other parties to jump on the ship to inflate his
reputation for their own less than straight forward purposes.

I’m sure most of you are scratching your head and wondering who is Jimmy the Gent? You’re probably saying “there’s no way he’s in the same league as Whitey.” And I’d have to agree. He makes Whitey look like a small timer.

Burke was an outright mean murderer. You might have heard how
Whitey didn’t like a story Paul Corsetti of the Herald was planning to
write. He made a plan to confront him at the Dockside in Quincy Market
(according to Ralph Ranalli in 2001) or at P.J. Clark’s (according to
Howie Carr in 2006) or “a bar in Quincy Market” (according to Howie
Carr in 2011). Whitey was upset because the story was about his brother
Billy, or about the Litif murder, or whatever.(Hard to pin down the
reason.) We’re told that Whitey interacted with Corsetti, a combat vet
from Vietnam, and whispered one of those “do you know who I am” talks allegedly telling him“I’m Jimmy Bulger and I kill people.”

Many of the murders attributed to Whitey were done by others. He
was allegedly in a crash car for a half-dozen who were murdered
by Murderman nor did he have much to do with the Wheeler or Callahan
murders. Jimmy the Gent was all hands on. He is suspected in over 50
murders. Most of the people who pulled the Kennedy heist with him he
murdered so they either wouldn’t talk or complain about their cut of the
loot. Yet no one has suggested that he terrorized New York City. He was
but a minor blip in the annals of crime.
- See more at:
http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20140124/BLOGS/301249982/2011/OPINION#sthash.1cJSsaBF.dpuf

How
is it that Whitey received widespread national coverage during his
trial, even reports in some international media? What makes him such a
figure that well over two dozen books have been written about him in
which he plays a prominent part in one way or another? I’ve posited
that Whitey was a run-of-the-mill viscous gangster. Yet forces united to
elevate him to stratospheric levels.

One prominent media maven wrote that he “Corrupted Boston for a
Quarter Century.” From what I can tell there’s never been any public
official in the state or city convicted of corruption because of an
involvement with Whitey. It seems that the corruption we’ve seen among
Massachusetts public office holders or officials has not implicated
anyone involved with organized crime.

However four different surveys ranks Massachusetts as follows:
Center for Public Integrity gives it a C placing it in the top ten least
corrupt states; the New York Times ranks it 18th in the number of officials convicted; the federals show it ranks 27th in per capital convictions; and Business Insider ranks it as the 21st most corrupt.

If Whitey didn’t corrupt any public officials and if he didn’t
terrorize the city, then what is it that makes him such a matter of
fascination? It boils down to the smallness of Boston where something
rather ordinary can be made into something extraordinary. But why pick
out Whitey? He wasn’t the worst of the lot: John “Murderman” Martorano
and Stevie “Benjiman”Flemmi, not to mention Larry Baione (Zannino),
Gerry Angiulo and Frankie Salemme all surpassed him in cruelty and
crime. I’ve suggested Whitey was made into much more than he ever was
because it sated the Boston media’s appetite to foil his brother; and
there was a need of other parties to jump on the ship to inflate his
reputation for their own less than straight forward purposes.

I’m sure most of you are scratching your head and wondering who is Jimmy the Gent? You’re probably saying “there’s no way he’s in the same league as Whitey.” And I’d have to agree. He makes Whitey look like a small timer.

Burke was an outright mean murderer. You might have heard how
Whitey didn’t like a story Paul Corsetti of the Herald was planning to
write. He made a plan to confront him at the Dockside in Quincy Market
(according to Ralph Ranalli in 2001) or at P.J. Clark’s (according to
Howie Carr in 2006) or “a bar in Quincy Market” (according to Howie
Carr in 2011). Whitey was upset because the story was about his brother
Billy, or about the Litif murder, or whatever.(Hard to pin down the
reason.) We’re told that Whitey interacted with Corsetti, a combat vet
from Vietnam, and whispered one of those “do you know who I am” talks allegedly telling him“I’m Jimmy Bulger and I kill people.”

Many of the murders attributed to Whitey were done by others. He
was allegedly in a crash car for a half-dozen who were murdered
by Murderman nor did he have much to do with the Wheeler or Callahan
murders. Jimmy the Gent was all hands on. He is suspected in over 50
murders. Most of the people who pulled the Kennedy heist with him he
murdered so they either wouldn’t talk or complain about their cut of the
loot. Yet no one has suggested that he terrorized New York City. He was
but a minor blip in the annals of crime.
- See more at:
http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20140124/BLOGS/301249982/2011/OPINION#sthash.1cJSsaBF.dpuf

'Goodfellas' Cold Case Cracked With Witnesses, Secret Tapes

For decades, those responsible for a 1978 pre-dawn robbery at the Lufthansa cargo terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport, immortalized in the movie “Goodfellas,”
eluded authorities. Only one person, an airline employee, was
convicted, suspected organized crime associates were murdered and more
than $6 million in cash, gold and jewels was never recovered.
That
changed yesterday when authorities arrested Vincent Asaro, 78, alleging
he’s a Bonanno crime family captain who participated in the Dec. 11,
1978, heist, the largest U.S. robbery at the time and the biggest in New
York City history.
The break in the 35-year-old case came after the Federal Bureau
of Investigation recruited new cooperating witnesses, including a
cousin of Asaro who prosecutors said had been in on the heist.
Authorities used information from at least four cooperating witnesses,
DNA evidence and secretly made recordings in building a case that
resulted in five arrests of alleged Bonanno crime family members as part
of a broader organized crime sweep.
An indictment announced by U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch in Brooklyn, New York,
describes the trade craft of organized crime practiced by Asaro and his
four alleged Bonanno cohorts, including extortion, racketeering,
gambling, loansharking and threats of violence and murder.

‘Wise Guys’

“These
‘Goodfellas’ thought they had a license to steal, a license to kill and
a license to do whatever they wanted,” George Venizelos, head of the
FBI’s New York office, said in a statement. “It may be decades later,
but the FBI’s determination to investigate and bring wise guys to
justice will never waver.”
The defendants are charged with
racketeering, which carries a term of as long as 20 years in prison.
Asaro faces as long as life in prison, prosecutors said in a memo to the
court. Four of the five defendants pleaded not guilty before U.S.
Magistrate Judge Marilyn Go in federal court in Brooklyn. All five
remain in federal custody.
“This is the sequel to ‘Goodfellas,’’ Gerald J. McMahon, a lawyer for Asaro, said after court yesterday.
‘‘Marty needs a screenplay,’’ he said in reference to the movie’s director, Martin Scorsese. Asaro will go to trial, McMahon said. ‘‘He will walk out of the doors a free man,’’ he said.
McMahon denied that Asaro was involved in the Lufthansa heist. ‘‘He doesn’t even know how to spell it,’’ he said.

Gold, Jewels

According
to prosecutors, the team walked into the darkened Lufthansa Air Cargo
building and left with gold, jewels and 50 boxes of cash, each
containing $125,000.
Soon after the heist, federal authorities
suspected that at least 10 members of the team were murdered, said
Edward McDonald, then the federal prosecutor who oversaw the
investigation.
‘‘Many of the people we believed to be
participants were executed afterward, some within weeks, to silence
them,’’ McDonald, now a partner at Dechert LLP, said yesterday in an
interview. ‘‘There was a feeding frenzy in the press, and for months it
was the subject of an intense federal investigation.’’

No Money

Asaro,
the only one of the five defendants yesterday linked with the Lufthansa
heist, was rankled that he didn’t get his share of the spoils, which
was supposed to be $750,000 each, according to court documents. In a
Feb. 17, 2011, recording cited by prosecutors, he alleged that it was
kept by his associate James ‘‘Jimmy the Gent’’ Burke, who died in prison
in 1996, and in the Hollywood telling was played by Robert De Niro.
‘‘We
never got our right money, we were supposed to get, we got f---- all
around. Got f---- all around. That f------ Jimmy [Burke] kept
everything,’’ Asaro said in the recordings, according to court
documents.
‘‘Neither age nor time dimmed Asaro’s ruthless ways
as he continued to order violence to carry out mob business in recent
months,’’ Lynch said in a statement.
Asaro was also singled out
for his role in the murder of Paul Katz, who the U.S. said owned a
warehouse in Queens that Asaro and his associates used to store stolen
items. After the warehouse was raided in the late 1960s, Asaro and Burke
became concerned that Katz would become an informant. In 1969 Katz was
taken to a vacant home in Queens where Burke killed him with a dog chain
because it was believed ‘‘he was a rat who was cooperating with law enforcement,’’ according to court papers.

Buried Body

They
buried his body in the basement of a vacant Queens home where it
remained for about 20 years. Alerted that state law enforcement
officials were again investigating Katz’s murder, Burke told Asaro and
his son to dig up the body and move it to the basement of another Queens
home to avoid detection, the U.S. said. In June, after receiving a tip,
the FBI excavated the site and found human remains. DNA testing on a
human skull, bones and corduroy cloth found at the scene later
determined that the body was Katz’s.
After the FBI began
excavating the Queens home on Liberty Avenue on June 17, ‘‘Cooperating
Witness 1” made a secret recording of his conversation with Asaro, in
which Asaro asked, “What happened?” according to court papers.
“The feds are all over Liberty Avenue,” the witness said on the recording.
“For what?” Asaro asked.
“You know,” the cooperator said.
After the witness asks Asaro what he should do, Asaro replied, “Nothing,” adding later, “Don’t call me.”
The U.S. said FBI agents observed Asaro drive past the excavation site that same day.

Devoted Life

The
defendants, including Asaro, are his son, Jerome Asaro, 55, Thomas
“Tommy D” DiFiore, 70, John “Bazoo” Ragano, 52, and Jack Bonventre, 45.
Bonventre is scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate in Brooklyn today. All five are scheduled to appear before Judge Allyne Ross on Feb. 19.
“Vincent
Asaro devoted his adult life to the Bonanno crime family, with a
criminal career that spanned decades,” Lynch said in a statement. “Far
from a code of honor, theirs was a code of violence and brute force.”
Asaro’s
participation in the heist was corroborated by information provided by
more than four cooperating witnesses, including those who are associated
with three crime families, according to court papers. One of the
cooperating witnesses, who prosecutors identified as a cousin of Vincent
Asaro, participated in the heist, has pleaded guilty and is aiding the
U.S. in the hopes of getting leniency, authorities said.
The
cooperating witness wore a wire to make secret recordings for the U.S.
after he became suspicious that Asaro and his son intended to kill him,
according to the U.S.

Federal Informant

Henry Hill, a
federal informant whose life in organized crime was portrayed by Ray
Liotta in “Goodfellas,” said convicted Lucchese crime family captain
Paul Vario and Burke were the two behind the Lufthansa heist, according
to Nicholas Pileggi’s book “Wiseguy.”
Burke died in federal
prison while serving a 20-year prison term for murdering a drug dealer.
He was never charged with the airport robbery.
Burke had a
“close criminal association” with Vincent Asaro and shared an interest
in Robert’s Lounge, a Queens bar that was a meeting place for Burke and
his crew, according to papers filed by prosecutors.

Armed Holdup

According
to the book “The Heist” by Ernest Volkman and John Cummings, the
robbery was considered “the greatest cash robbery in American history,”
larger than the armed holdup of the Brink’s Armored Car Co. in Boston in 1950, in which $2.7 million was stolen.
McDonald,
who won the cooperation of Hill when he was a prosecutor, said that the
U.S. convicted only one person tied to the JFK heist, Louis Werner, a
Lufthansa cargo agent. Werner, arrested two months after the robbery,
was found guilty of accepting $80,000 to provide information to the
robbers to help them carry out the heist, McDonald said.
Hill also told federal investigators that Burke and Vario were behind the heist, McDonald said.
McDonald,
who played himself in “Goodfellas,” said the U.S. was unable to obtain
corroborating evidence to support Hill’s information and the probe also
was hindered by the execution of people authorities linked to the
robbery.
Eventually the U.S. won convictions against crime
family members for extortion of airport shipping companies as well as
the union that handled freight at the airport, McDonald said.
Vario
was one of the men convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn 1986 for
running a protection racket at JFK airport. Hill testified against Vario
and his co-defendants at trial. Vario died in federal prison in Texas in 1988, while Hill died in 2012 in Los Angeles from heart problems tied to smoking.
“This case was larger than life,” McDonald said.
The case is U.S. v. Asaro, 14-cr-00026, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).

The real Goodfellas: FBI arrest New York mafia suspected of carrying out the infamous 1978 Lufthansa heist

Five
suspected mobsters have been arrested for their part in the 1978
Lufthansa heist at New York's Kennedy International Airport

The robbery was famously featured in the Martin Scorsese movie Goodfellas

The
arrests of four men and surrender of a fifth follows a discovery by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation of human remains at a New York property
in June

The home was once owned by James 'Jimmy the Gent' Burke last summer - who was played by Robert De Niro in Goodfellas

This is the first time any accused member of the mafia has ever faced charges in connection with the crime

The December 11, 1978, heist was one of the largest cash thefts in American history

The cash was never found and only one conviction has ever been made

It has taken them over 30 years, but
the FBI have finally charged members of the New York mafia with the 1978
Lufthansa heist at JFK - made famous by the movie Goodfellas.Five
high-ranking members of the Bonanno organized crime family were
arrested and charged in pre-dawn raids on Thursday morning in connection
with the $6 million robbery that is still one of the largest cash
thefts in American history.The
arrests took place across New York and included Thomas 'Tommy D'
DiDiore, who is believed to be the highest ranking member of the Bonanno
family outside of prison and Vincent Asaro, 78, who is alleged to be a
captain, or capo in the ranks of the crime family.Scroll Down for Video

Arrest 35-years later: Vincent Vinny Asaro
(2-R), a captain in the Bonanno crime family, is escorted by FBI agents
out of a federal building in New York, on Thursday 23 January 2014 -
Asaro is suspected of being involved in the infamous Lufthansa heist of
1978

Busted: Vincent Asaro, an alleged captain in the
Bonanno crime family, is led from Federal Plaza as he is charged in
connection with the 1978 Lufthansa heist at JFK International Airport

Boss: Thomas (Tommy D) DiFiore , reportedly
connected to the Bonanno crime family, is escorted by FBI agents out of a
federal building in Brooklyn, New York on Thursday after being charged
in connection with the Lufthansa heist of 1978

Pinched: Two of five men arrested by the FBI
this morning in connection with the infamous Lufthansa heist of 1978
leaves the court in Brooklyn

This is the first time any accused member of the mafia has ever faced charges in connection with the crime.The
arrests of the five men follows a discovery by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation of human remains at a New York property tied to James
'Jimmy the Gent' Burke last summer.Burke,
the suspected mastermind of the heist, died in prison in 1996 while
serving time for the murder of a drug dealer. Actor Robert De Niro
played a character based on Burke in the film.Vincent
Asaro, identified as one of the leaders of the Bonanno gang, was
charged with the theft of $5 million in cash and $1 million in jewelry
from the Lufthansa Terminal at Kennedy on December 11, 1978.At
the time, it was the biggest cash heist ever in the United States. The
stolen $5 million would be worth $17.9 million in 2013 dollars,
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.The
crime stumped investigators for years, but a break in the case came
last summer during a search that turned up human remains buried at the
former home of Burke.The
indictment charges Asaro with the murder of Paul Katz in 1969, as well
as robbery, conspiracy and other charges tied to the 1978 heist.The
Asaros, both alleged captains in the Bonanno organized crime family,
also were charged together in a 1984 robbery of $1.25 million worth of
gold salts from a Federal Express employee. Information on their attorneys was not immediately available.

Iconic: More than $5 million in cash and $1
million in jewels were netted in the heist, which took place on Dec. 11,
1978 and was made famous in the 1990 film Goodfellas

Burke owned Robert's Lounge,
the saloon that a fellow Lucchese associate, the late Henry Hill -
played by Ray Liotta in Goodfellas - described as Burke's private
cemetery. 'Jimmy buried over a dozen bodies ... under the bocce courts,' Hill wrote in his book, 'A Goodfella's Guide to New York.'

Law
enforcement have said that the arrested are Bonanno crime family
members Vincent Asaro, 78; Jerome Asaro, 55; Thomas 'Tommy D' DiFiore,
70; John 'Bazoo' Ragano, 52; and Jack Bonventre, whose age isn't known.Two of the suspects live in Queens, two in Long Island and one in upstate New York.

Life and film: James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke is
led handcuffed from a law enforcenemt vehicle in this April 1979 file
photo - and (right) as portrayed by Robert De Niro in the 1990 film
Goodfellas

The exact
connection between the search of Burke's home in Queens and the
Lufthansa heist has not been made clear by the FBI as of Thursday.Before
today the only person ever convicted in connection with the robbery was
airport insider, Louis Werner - who tipped off the men who stole the
money.The theft occurred
in the middle of the night on December 11, 1978 and netted the robbers
more than $5 million in cash and $1 million in jewels.At
the time, it was the largest heist ever in America and led to a huge,
decades-long search for the perpetrators that until now has been
fruitless.Six masked gunman took 64 minutes to steal the packets of cash, toss them into a van and escape.The
FBI has always agreed with the plot of the movie Goodfellas about all
loose connections to the robbery being killed off by paranoid mob
bosses.

Anger: The character of Jimmy Conway - played by
Robert De Niro - becomes angry in the aftermath of the Lufthansa
robbery and begins to kill those associated with the heist

Iconic: The 1990 Martin Scorsese movie
Goodfellas is considered by some to be one of the best movies about
organized crime in modern American history

Federal agents believe
that Asaro was the key mafia overseer for JFK and as such would have
been informed of Burke's plan to rob the currency shipment from West
Germany.The indictment
charges Asaro with the murder of Paul Katz in 1969, as well as robbery,
conspiracy and other charges tied to the 1978 heist.ABC News reported Katz was killed, and his remains buried, because Burke believed he was working with law enforcement.Burke
was a specialist in hijacking and was arrrested in 1982 for a parole
violation and was sentenced to 12 years in prison for match fixing
involving the Boston College basketball team.During
his prison term, Burke was indicted for the murder of a known drug
dealer whose body was found tied up hanging in a freezer truck in
Brooklyn.He was sentenced
to 20 years to life for second-degree murder and died behind bars in
1996, at age 64, almost two decades after the airport robbery. The cash has never been recovered from the robbery.--

There is no appetite for terror campaign, says top dissident

A republican parade in Lodnonderry in 2011.

There is no appetite for the ongoing campaign of dissident republican violence, a leading dissident has said.

Dominic McGlinchey Jnr, 36, whose father of the same
name was the notorious INLA leader before his 1994 murder, said that
republicans opposed to Sinn Fein’s strategy needed to “have a
conversation about the future of the republican movement”.
The
intervention by Mr McGlinchey comes as the latest in a lengthening line
of veteran republicans at variance with Sinn Fein who have spoken out
about the futility of the continuing campaign of bombings and shootings.
Several
former IRA men have given interviews to the News Letter in which they
have urged fellow republican opponents of Sinn Fein to desist from
violence.
In December, former prisoner Anthony McIntyre told this
newspaper: “Republicans lost the war and the IRA campaign failed and the
dissidents need to be told that it failed rather than be allowed to
continue thinking what they do.”
Richard O’Rawe said at that time that the dissidents’ “whole campaign is insane” and should stop.
Mr
McGlinchey — who has vigorously denied an allegation that he had any
involvement in the 2009 Massereene murders and has never been charged in
relation to the attack — told the Irish News: “I don’t believe the
appetite exists among the people. That’s not to say there is not
considerable support among certain segments of republicanism for
particular types of resistance but what is very clear is that the
appetite is not there for a full-blown campaign.”
He added that dissidents needed to consider if “certain tactics are holding you back from entering a new field of battle”.